Friday 2/13: The Poetry Foundation hosts Poetry Out Loud: Chicago Regionals, where Chicago high school champs compete for the chance to represent Illinois at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals this April in Washington, DC. 10:30 a.m., free.
The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl web series creator and memoir author Issa Rae chats with Samantha Irby at the Swedish History Museum. Online ticketing is now closed, but you can call Women and Children First to check on remaining availability. 7:30 p.m.
Saturday 2/14: Love, What Language Do You Speak? Chicago cultural institutions collaborate for a multilingual Valentine’s Day celebration at The Poetry Foundation. Translations will be provided for poetry, music, film, and theater pieces presented. 5 p.m., free (and followed by a reception).
Monday 2/16: David Axelrod discusses his new book, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics. Seminary Co-op, 5 p.m.
Get your live lit party on—Essay Fiesta is back at The Book Cellar! 7 p.m., free (but all donations benefit 826CHI).
Tuesday 2/17: The Open Door Readings: February presents the School of the Art Institute’s Rosellen Brown with student Judith Valente and Columbia College’s Joshua Young with student Harlee Logan Kelly. Free at The Poetry Foundation, 7 p.m.
Pungent Parlour returns to Black Rock Pub and Kitchen for another evening of original readings in a salon setting at 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday 2/18: Bernadette Atuahene discusses We Want What’s Ours: Learning From South Africa’s Land Restitution Program at Harold Washington Library, 6 p.m.
Once a month, The Book Cellar hosts Local Author Night. February’s guests: Greg Hickey (Our Dried Voices), Sharon Wright (Running to Stay Upright), and Halle Butler (Jillian). 7 p.m., free.
New York Times best-selling comic Lucy Knisley signs copies of her new graphic memoir, Displacement. Challengers Comics + Conversation, 7 p.m.
Learn leadership lessons from Jill Morgenthaler, author of The Courage to Take Command, at Women and Children First. 7:30 p.m., free.
Jeremy Owens, Eileen Dougharty, Daniel Shapiro, Pari Karim, and Beth Casey perform at this month’s Guts and Glory, led by Samantha Irby and Keith Ecker. Upstairs at Lincoln Hall + Schuba’s, 7 p.m.
Thursday 2/19: Who says three has to be a crowd? Stephanie Anderson, Hannah Brooks-Motl, and Patrick Morrissey read from their poetry collections at Seminary Co-op’s Triple Poetry Reading. 6 p.m., free.
Listen to Prudence author David Treuer read at The Book Cellar, 7 p.m.
Introduced by local mystery writer Sara Paretsky, Sara Blaedel reads from her newest crime thriller, The Forgotten Girls, at Women and Children First. 7:30 p.m., free.